Ancient(y) Proverb: There are more dangers in the Universe than the anger of one man and a puddle of lava.
Oh, and another...
Old(ish) English Proverb: Many reviews maketh a happy author but cliffhangers make happier readers...
The following chapters take place over a period of 24 hours. Ber dum... ber dum... ber dum...
Chapter Nine
"Huh, you can cut the proverbial atmosphere with the proverbial knife," muttered Rodney quietly as he and Radek readied Jumper Two for flight, checking various panels and instruments in the cockpit.
"This is true," said Radek, with a low whisper, nodding in rare agreement . He had no wish to be overheard by the four Marines who were filing in and stashing away kit in the overhead compartments, taking their places on the benches in the rear. The geophysicist, Dr. Chetley, and Shepto, were already seated.
"This is not going to be a happy outing," he added. "But then, none of them have been. Major Lorne's mood has been so black. I am glad this is the last trip."
They both glanced anxiously through the windscreen. Sheppard had his back to them, leaning against the Jumper. Rodney wondered if his casual pose was meant to be deliberately provocative. It looked like it was working. Major Lorne was pacing up and down, and yes, his mood was black.
Rodney knew that Sheppard was far from happy with this arrangement. Another babysitter mission, he had called it. And had assumed Lorne was his babysitter. But it was actually Teyla, Ronon and Rodney that Sam had asked to keep an eye out for him. Teyla and Ronon she could rely on, without question. But Rodney she had singled out for a special word. "As regards John… Whatever happens, you'll promise me, don't be negative, don't be sceptical. Science can't explain everything… you're gonna have to be open-minded, receptive to anything new you might encounter as much as John is… and as a friend, he's going to need that sort of support and understanding." "Yes. Yes. Whatever." Anything to get rid of her. He was busy. "Rodney!" "What?!" "I'm trying to be serious here!" And he looked up, blinking at her. And her words caught up with him. And sank in. And it was only Sam he'd allow to point out his failings without the sarcastic backlash. Even if he knew them already. And 'friend,'after all, had been the key word.
"Where the hell are they? My men are already on board," complained Lorne.
"They'll be here." Sheppard casually pushed himself off the front of the Jumper.
"At least, they are talking now," said Radek under his breath, peering up over the top of his glasses.
"Two minutes. If they're not here then, we're going without them," warned Lorne.
"Whatever you say. You're the boss." Way too flippantly apparently.
Lorne pushed into Sheppard, pinning him back up against the Jumper, spitting out his words.
"Let's get this straight, Colonel! I did not ask for you to be here! Don't. Mess. With Me!"
Sheppard, equally aggressively, thrust him back. "And you're way out of line, Major!" Sheppard emphasized the word, Major. Lorne might be in charge, but Sheppard was damned sure going to remind him who had the senior rank. The two glared at each other, faces inches apart.
"Whoa!" said Rodney, from his vantage point in the Jumper. "This is not looking good!"
Teyla and Ronon appeared at last, and Lorne stormed off to enter the Jumper. Both Teyla and Ronon gave Sheppard wary looks.
"You're late," said Sheppard accusingly. Now his mood was black. Sheppard watched Teyla walk hurriedly by to follow Lorne, leaving Ronon to make their excuses.
"Teyla wasn't feeling well."
"Again?! Why is she coming then?"
"As soon as she heard there were people on this planet…" he shrugged. "News of the Athosans."
Sheppard rolled his eyes. "I do not need this!" The two men hastened to join the others on board. Ronon flung himself down in an empty space among the Marines. Sheppard shuffled past Radek who, always the gentleman, was making his way to the back after offering his seat to Teyla, treading on everyone's feet en route.
"Yes. Excuse me, please, Colonel. Oh sorry! Yes. Excuse me." The Czech's nervousness a direct result of witnessing the near-scrap outside. He was actually relieved not to sit in the cockpit.
At the bulkhead, Sheppard stopped. Briefly taken aback.
Lorne sat in the co-pilot's seat leaving that of the pilot's vacant for him. This was something Sheppard hadn't been expecting. He glanced at Rodney sitting behind Lorne. And Rodney, in turn, gave Sheppard a suffering sympathetic look. This suddenly had all the feel of his first flying test. Sheppard took a deep breath and went forward, nodding to Teyla as he passed. She visibly relaxed, relieved she'd managed to avoid a lecture. For now, anyway.
Once seated, he flicked the switch for the hatch and ran through the start up procedures, breaking the awkward silence with a question.
"Ok. Anyone care to run down the asteroid situation?"
"It's bad," said Rodney gloomily. So Lorne was out to trip him up. The Jumper's engines started to hum.
"Care to quantify that?" asked Sheppard, trying to sound indifferent, as he manoeuvred the Jumper out of the bay, down to the 'Gate room.
"They're difficult to forecast but-" began Rodney.
"-On the last mission, there was an increased build up. You have a problem with that?" interrupted Lorne bluntly.
"Just dial the 'Gate." Now, Sheppard was really… irritated.
He gave Lorne a good ride.
The HUD was going crazy trying to keep up with the red warnings in real time. He knew that on at least two occasions, he had deliberately aimed the Jumper straight at an asteroid, in order to avoid it at the last possible moment. He didn't really care. He could hear Rodney's wincing and drawing in of breath every time a sharp turn was called for. Lorne remained inscrutable throughout, though Sheppard was pretty damned sure he struggled to do so. Once, after a succession of twists and rolls, he heard one of the marines, new to the Jumpers, ask if they'd just flown upside down.
"You can't fly upside down. There is no upside down. Its space stupid!" came a reply from a fellow marine.
"Well, it felt like upside down."
"You can't actually feel upside down. Or anything. Inertial dampeners, you know" was Radek's good-humoured explanation, though he might have sworn at the soldier in Czech for all it meant to him.
Sheppard inwardly admitted that he was perversely enjoying this. It was great to be flying again. There seemed to be nothing he could do wrong. The controls of Jumper Two, Lorne's usual jumper, were responding well, even though probably more used to Lorne's thought patterns. He wondered briefly if he were drawing on any of his Ancient DNA and that was making this a whole lot easier. And instantly rejected the idea. Sure he was in denial. Sam had said so. But he was happy just being plain, ordinary John Sheppard. With no complications. Though with Lorne beside him… Well, a few minor complications…
They passed through the asteroid field and the planet, M12 23D loomed large ahead of them, lost in a complete cover of swirling white cloud. The other planets of the Aloran Group in close proximity, grey or brown, austere in comparison to the visible glittering sapphire of Epiquaaya set in solitude, thousands of kilometres away…
Breaking orbit and heading for their coordinates, they entered the planet's atmosphere, the cloud enveloping them as thick fog.
It had been going too well.
A loud crack.
From the rear right hand side of the Jumper.
"What the-?"
The craft suddenly lurched to the right. Everyone looking wide-eyed and alarmed. Grabbing hold of anything close at hand for support.
"Keep it level! Keep it level!" yelled Lorne, tetchily.
"What do you think I'm doing?!" from Sheppard equally tetchily. Thinking alone wasn't enough and he had a strong grip on the handheld controls.
The HUD showed its new warning.
"Starboard engine's down!" And judging from the loud whine from the port side engine, it was struggling to keep the Jumper airborne on its own.
"Rodney, what just happened?" Rodney was out of his seat and urgently half-pulling, half-beckoning Lorne out of his.
"I'm on it!"
"Keep the nose up! You're going in too steep!" Sheppard didn't bother with a reply to Lorne.
"We were hit by something? There's no craft nearby!" joined in Teyla.
"Sounded like small arms fire. But we're too far up for that. And…we had no warning." Sheppard spoke with effort. The Jumper was still leaning too sharply to the right and needed all his concentration.
"Most probably a meteoroid. Small as a bullet. Wouldn't register on the HUD." Rodney was tapping what seemed like every conceivable button furiously. "Gone straight through the power drive! The chances of that…." he shook his head in disbelief. "I can't even access auxiliary lines…"
"Crap," said Sheppard. It also meant the inertial dampeners probably wouldn't be working either. "Right. Landing with one engine, everyone. Hold on tight!"
It was worse than that even. Visibility was practically nil. The Jumper was losing height fast and fog smoked around them thick and dense. It was only marginally better than the day he flew the Wraith dart, a craft with no windscreen. Sheppard was forced to rely on visuals from the HUD alone to tell him of any obstacles that lay ahead.
Including the ground.
The number of metres to landing counted down too rapidly as he failed to get the Jumper's nose up.
He flicked a switch. "Ok. Now the starboard pod won't retract. We're gonna hit-"
The ground.
Hard.
With a powerful thud, the Jumper landed clumsily, ploughing the earth before it, veering round to the port side before coming to a standstill in the bank of soil thrown up at the front. The impact had whipped the controls out of Sheppard's hands and sent everyone flying forward.
Slowly, when they were sure it was safe to do so, all those in the back gingerly picked themselves up from the floor, rubbing bruises and helping each other. Lorne and Teyla wedged between the bulkhead and the front seats had managed to remain seated and were unscathed.
"Everyone in the rear, ok?" bawled Lorne. There were a few feeble "Yes, sirs." as replies.
No great harm done then.
Both Rodney and Sheppard thrown against the dash, eased back into their seats.
Rodney put up a hand.
"Here, I'm ok too," he said in a squeaky voice, knowing well enough that Lorne hadn't been asking him. "What about you, Sheppard? You ok?" Rodney asked. Still winded, Sheppard merely nodded. "Not one of your better landings, I think." Rodney added, massaging an arm.
"Should have flown the thing myself," complained Lorne as he went to see to his men.
"Yeah, whatever," Sheppard threw after him.
"That man is no longer very… nice," confided Teyla in a low voice.
"It'd be good to have the hatch open!" shouted Lorne sarcastically from the back, confirming Teyla's low opinion of him. Sheppard obliged, by pressing the button. The cold murky atmosphere of outside quickly filled the Jumper as the Marines began to disembark.
"I guess we'd better assess the damage," muttered Rodney, fiddling with some controls. Sheppard stood and waited with Teyla at the bulkhead, exchanging looks with Ronon as he followed the Marines out.
Lorne positioned at the hatch, barked out more orders to the front as Dr. Chetley quickly scuttled past him.
"Dr. McKay!"
"Yes!" snapped back Rodney.
"You stay here and fix the Jumper!"
"Am doing! Radek-"
"-Radek's coming with us."
"I am?" asked a dismayed Czech.
"But it'll need the two of us to carry out repairs!" protested Rodney. "That is, if you want a return trip in the next week or so."
"Just do as the man says," said Sheppard quietly.
"The Colonel can stay and assist." Sheppard merely nodded. It's what he anticipated. Lorne was obviously dishing out what he thought were menial tasks to Team Sheppard. But McKay and the Jumper needed a guard anyhow and it might as well be him. Let the guy have his moment and get it out of his system.
"Shepto stay here. Teyla?" Well, he was certain that Teyla and Ronon were in for a real fun day. And Shepto couldn't hide his disappointment that he wasn't going with his fellow Athosan. She nodded to Sheppard and left. Radek was still gathering up his gear and was the last to leave, casting the three remaining the unhappiest of looks as he passed out the hatch. They could hear Lorne still giving out orders to his company as they disappeared into the thick mist.
"Can I remind you all that radios are probably useless here. So no getting separated or lost."
Quiet in the Jumper for a moment.
"Why are you putting up with this?" asked Rodney. "I doubt very much if he even knows where he is exactly."
Actually, despite the crash landing, they weren't far from their designated landing co-ordinates.
"I'm not putting up with anything. I'm building bridges," replied Sheppard sagely.
"You are?" blinked Rodney, uncomprehending.
"Oh yes." And who was he kidding? It needed two sides of a river to build a bridge.
The fog lifted with the approach of M12 23D's midday. A gloom hung in the air still as a grey drizzle. Sheppard had by far the best position. In the pilot's seat. Comfortably curled up with his legs crossed up on the dash, he only occasionally had to open an eye or lift a hand whenever instructed by Rodney.
Rodney. "Is it working now?"
Sheppard. "Nope."
Rodney. "Are you sure?"
Sheppard. "Yeah."
Rodney. "Are you sure you're really looking?"
Sheppard. "Yeah!" And a pretence at indignation.
And Rodney would go back to poking in a compartment of crystals or pulling at some conduit wires in the rear of the Jumper. It was cold there as he needed the hatch open to speak with Shepto, outside, shivering, damp and miserable near the starboard drive pod.
Rodney. "Is it working now?"
Shepto."I don't think so, Sir."
Rodney. "What do you mean, you don't think so? Is it moving or not?"
Shepto. "I don't think so, Sir."
"Have I got to come out there and look myself? Why am I always surrounded by idiots!" And Rodney would disappear outside and reappear again, gradually becoming as wet as Shepto.
And then once, Shepto called, "Hey, Doc., its moving! You're a genius! It's moving!" And the noise woke Sheppard with a start. That and the hard poke Rodney gave him.
"You can try the engines now, Rip van Winkle."
Wearily, Sheppard sat upright, and tried powering up. The engines fired to life immediately.
"Dr. McKay's a real genius!" beamed Shepto from the hatch.
"See! Someone appreciates me!"
"Oh, well done, Rodney," said Sheppard dryly, as he turned off the engines again. "Double quick time too. I thought you said it'd take a week."
"As the man said," and Rodney pointed to Shepto with both hands, "I'm a genius!"
"Quiet! We've got company!" warned Sheppard suddenly, spotting two grey figures in the mist approaching the Jumper. Shepto's P90 being prepped the only sound heard in the tense silence.
Teyla and Ronon.
"Back so soon, huh?" said Rodney rather too cheerily considering the pair's long expressions. Sheppard turned sideways in the pilot's seat to face the two as they filed past Shepto and Rodney into the cockpit. Ronon flopped down in a vacant seat.
"Well?" prompted Sheppard impatiently when both seemed a little reticent to explain themselves.
"The man's a jerk!" blurted out Ronon. It was an Earth word and he liked it. He liked other Earth words a lot more and he figured they were a lot more applicable to Lorne at the present. But Teyla was there. And scowling enough at him already, without him incurring more of her reproach.
"Huh, if you're referring to Lorne, tell us something we don't know!" voiced Rodney.
Teyla wearily sat behind Sheppard. The moisture in her hair and on the all-wrapping jacket she took to wearing nowadays, glinting in the Jumper's interior lights.
"You know that the intention of this mission is to investigate the suspected Nq2 seam Dr. Chetley discovered during their fly past the last time they were here. Also detected were half a dozen settlements in close proximity. We came to one such settlement, a small town, roughly one mile north of here, lying half a mile west of the seam," explained Teyla.
"Lorne sent Teyla and me in there to suss them out. He figured the sight of soldiers might alarm them. And it might alert them to the true value of the ore. The townsfolk might get greedy if it came to negotiations," said Ronon.
Sheppard pulled a face. "Yeah. All of those things are true. I might have figured the same." What was Ronon's problem then?
" 'Cept you would've listened to what we had to tell you."
Teyla continued. "The town was simple. Wooden houses. Some of the townsfolk we met, informed us that the ore had been mined for fuel many years ago but underwater streams made the mine shafts unstable. After one collapse, when many townsfolk lost their lives, they were abandoned."
"Its whitewash," asserted Ronon.
"It is Ronon's belief that some of the townsfolk were not entirely honest with us. That mining is still being carried out. Their reactions to our questions were variable. Not all were open."
"They did not want us snooping around, asking questions."
"We saw a few with clothing soiled with blue dust. And their hands were calloused. Which only comes with weeks of hard labour."
"And some of their roads? Too many deep cart tracks. They've been used for something more than harvest food."
"We caught up with Major Lorne and his men to report to him. They had already reached a cave, the site of the seam apparently, and were about to enter. Dr. Chetley and Dr. Zelenka were expressing deep concerns as to the safety of this particular cave. They'd already reached the conclusion that it formed the entrance to the former mine and the rocks were showing signs of decay… due to water erosion?" Teyla was unsure of the correct terminology. "So, it would appear that this was the mine that the town had abandoned but they may have since been extracting elsewhere," suggested Teyla.
"There were timbers shoring up the sides and they'd rotted away," confirmed Ronon.
"Therefore Major Lorne should not have entered this cave. And certainly, he should have started negotiation procedures with the townspeople as instructed by Colonel Carter. He has made his decision inadvisedly. But… he would not listen to us."
"Like I said, the man's a jerk."
"I feel we are… how do you say it… tarred with the same brush as you, John."
"You must have had one big argument at this place," commiserated Rodney.
"So then what… you just left?" asked Sheppard, a little incredulously.
"Yeah," shrugged Ronon. "What did you expect us to do? He ordered us to guard the cave entrance." Even now, after two years, the Satedan could not be trusted to follow the chain of command.
"You left your post?! Teyla?" Sheppard was on his feet, slightly angered, standing between the two of them. Each looking at him with some concern, neither had expected this sort of reaction.
"The Major did substitute two marines," she tried to assure him.
"Oh, and that makes it alright! Great! So now the Major is stretched thin. You do not leave your post! Ever! You understand!" He walked up the Jumper a couple of paces, rubbing his jaw, and strode back again, slamming the bulkhead with his hand, causing Teyla to flinch.
"And you know what else you've done?!" Sheppard pointed his forefinger into Ronon's face to emphasize his every word. "You've just played straight into Lorne's hands. This isn't about the townspeople! This isn't about the mine! This is about getting back at me! He was goading you. You've just handed Lorne an excuse to get your ass kicked off Atlantis!"
"That wouldn't happen," though Ronon looked doubtful.
"Don't bet on it!" And Sheppard walked off again, hitting the wall again. He sat in the back, folding his arms in exasperation. Yeah, he was angry with Ronon. He was way over the top too angry with Ronon. More than the situation demanded, he knew. Perhaps angry with himself too. He should have seen something like this coming. Should have warned Ronon and Teyla.
He was also frustrated. Somehow, he'd just got to get this Lorne thing sorted. It'd gone on long enough. He wiped a hand across his face. But honestly he didn't know how… damn, if it'd helped he'd take the guy out to a pier, somewhere private, and let the Major beat the hell out of him. If it helped… It had nearly come to that in front of the Jumper, hadn't it? And yeah, Eliosus… what was the point of having so-called powers and still couldn't get through to Lorne?
Teyla was speaking to Ronon. "It is what he threatened, Ronon. If I did not persuade you to return. He said he would put you on report and it would not look good before an IOA review board. You know that reviews are coming up shortly." Teyla was very nearly repeating the Major's exact words. Though with a more sympathetic tone. There followed an uncomfortable silence. Ronon, shuffled in his seat, crossing his legs at the ankles and studied his boots and the hem of his coat penitently. Everyone was grateful when the forgotten Shepto spoke up, believing things had simmered down enough and it was safe to do so. He still swallowed hard before daring to broach the subject and cast Colonel Sheppard a wary glance.
"Teyla? There was no news of the Athosans?"
She shook her head.
"I'm sorry," offered Rodney.
With effort, Teyla put on a brave face. "Thank you. But truthfully, I was not expecting news. As you have already informed us that very few outsiders would have reached this planet."
"Hmm! It's a wonder it was populated at all," sniffed Rodney.
"Yet the townsfolk did not seem surprised by our presence. And this is something else that we wished to convey to Major Lorne but he would not listen. This is the other reason why we felt a need to return here and report to you." She glanced towards Sheppard with an expression that suggested she believed his former tirade was unjustified. "The townsfolk believed that we were either from another settlement or that we were, what they referred to as… nannoids."
Something clicked inside Sheppard's head. Something as simple as two and two make four. And Rodney was doing the math too. And Teyla and Ronon apparently had already gotten there…
Sheppard was immediately on his feet and back in the cockpit.
"Huh, and it is no stretch of the imagination to link that with-" began Rodney.
"Nannites!" finished Sheppard.
"And follow that through to its natural conclusion?" enquired Rodney.
"Replicators!" supplied Ronon, nodding.
"Replicators here? Why didn't we pick them up on the sensors?" asked Sheppard.
"A little pre-occupied with a crash landing, at the time, I seem to recall, " explained Rodney. "My guess is they're the ones here to mine the Nq2 though why, when their technology is neutronium based."
"They wouldn't have a base here, would they? It too far off the beaten track to be of any use to them." Sheppard was thinking out loud. "Ok. Lorne has to be warned. We can't have him wandering all over the place risking running into these guys. Ronon take Shepto. Get back to that cave, find the Major, and you damn well make sure he listens this time."
"I can hit him?" smirked the Satedan.
"Yeah... No!" Though at first, it had seemed like a good idea. "Rodney, you're with me. We'll do a recon of the village and see what we can find and then join up with Ronon. Lorne has probably had too much of a head start. Teyla, stay here and… get some rest." Since she had arrived she hadn't been able to conceal how weary she was feeling after the three mile hike. "Rodney's fixed the Jumper, so you can keep it cloaked."
Teyla reached into a jacket pocket, pulling out a small drawstring pouch and offered it to Sheppard.
"You might find this useful. Minarian coinage. It is not unlike your gold and is quite acceptable to loosen tongues. The inn, we found, was the best source of information." Sheppard allowed the pouch to fall into his open palm.
"You have… money?" He raised a quizzical eyebrow but did not ask how she came by it.
"I find it is a necessity these days," she sighed. "I am glad that you are not taking Shepto. The inn is… a house of ill-repute."
"It is?" asked Rodney expectantly, with an obvious glint in his eye. He might as well have been rubbing his hands together. Sheppard and Teyla glowered at him. This was neither the time nor place.
Rodney, coughed, lowered his voice and promptly revised his question.
"It is?" he enquired innocently.
This was one awful mistake.
But they had a job to do and he was damn sure he was going to be the one to see it finished to the end.
A memory butted in.
The clean bright light of Colonel Carter's office. "I'm afraid this will cloud your judgement." "I can assure you, ma'am, it won't." "Good to hear it." How could he do that? How could he make that sort of promise? And then find himself here? Leading guys into this?
One awful damn mistake.
More recall.
That Med. Evac. on MT9 143. Calm. Efficient. Professional. Impassive. They could guess the malicious side of him had felt vindicated. But he hadn't let it interfere. Oddly, he knew he had softened. The soldier side of him. What should have been the hard side, softened. It'd happened in spite of himself. Sorta seeped in. Comrades in arms. You can never ignore that bond. It goes deep. You can never forget that bond, no matter how…
Hell. That was no way to go. Not after all this time on Atlantis. The Colonel strapped to a backboard. On the Jumper floor. Defibrillator ready. The sharp breaths. That stopped. Teyla calling. "John, please!" "AR, guys!" He'd shouted. But his Marines were good and already on it.
And then the guy was walking around and they said his injuries weren't as bad as first thought. But Lorne's brother…
And all the hatred came flooding back.
But still he kept it under wraps. It was never going to affect the way he did his job.
Until Sheppard stepped into his Jumper again...
The blackness of the cave. Cut by flashlight and rifle beam. A light drizzle outside. But it must have rained earlier. A constant drip. Echoing. And echoing. And in places, small thin streams of oily water snaked down the walls and onto the base of the cave. Providing sustenance for lurid blue fungi with their crimson cobweb tendrils, draping, salivating slime. And strange white slug-like creatures, the size of a man's hand that sucked on the detritus on the floor.
Into the old mine proper. Flaking, splintery timber shafts. Smell of rot and decay. Piles here and there of rock and earth. Slippage from the walls.
The scientists stopped from time to time to take samples. With zero optimism.
Once. Radek slipped and fell. The two marines helped him to his feet. Footsteps grinding on loose rock. And echoing. And other noises they couldn't place. Creaking. Sometimes metallic clanking. Mind tricks.
The floor, a slight decline became a slope. Myriads of tunnels splintered off left and right. Once, the main tunnel itself, forked. Then again and again. They marked the walls to remember the way back.
They still felt lost.
"Perhaps if we'd gone to the town and hired a guide…" muttered Dr. Chetley. The sole occasion any one dared complain. Lorne sensed they wanted to. He sensed their criticism every time he pushed them on. Even the two marines. They'd all heard Teyla and Ronon. But he was going to get this job done without their opinion. Without the interference of Sheppard's Team.
A black chasm suddenly opened before them. A vertical shaft. And they eased themselves and equipment along a half metre wide ledge. A kicked stone heard to hit water forty seconds later.
The routine of taking samples. Second nature now. But with pessimism and a sense of uselessness. Radek held a flashlight for Dr. Chetley, their faces shadowed and spectral. The walls slimed and glistened, ultramarine and white from mineral deposits. The marines and Lorne held a boundary around them of fainter P90 lights. The whine of the geophysicist's drill screamed off into the blackness of the tunnel. Earth trickled down at that spot. Under the geophysicist's collar. He shook himself, cursing. His voice echoing.
And echoing.
More earth tumbled down.
They froze. Silent. With bated breathe. Afraid for the expected avalanche. Flashing their lights upwards. Though nothing to be seen except void.
"It's too unstable, Major. We should go back. This is not what we're looking for. Nothing here is viable to mine. Rock needs to be harder in nature. Less permeable. Too much water erosion. Insufficient quantities too."
"No. We'll press on further." Tight lipped. Lorne could sense their opposition. Their challenge to his authority,
Echoing. Echoing in the dark.
This was a mistake.
This was all Sheppard's fault.
And then... the roof caved in...
